“The Man Who Invented Christmas” needed to accomplish two tasks: Tell the story of how Charles Dickens created the beloved classic “A Christmas Carol,” and in turn illustrate how the story’s popularity helped turn December 25 into a cultural behemoth.

Alas, it succeeds at neither, even though its source material (the non-fiction book by Les Standiford) excels at both. As a portrait of an author on the verge of a breakthrough, this is a run-of-the-mill, occasionally clumsy biopic; as for contextualizing Christmas, it never explains how it functioned before Dickens and only briefly mentions how it changed after him.

(When one of Dickens’ publishers shrugs off Christmas as a minor holiday, my very educated sister-in-law turned to me at the press screening and asked, “Wait, what?”)

The history of Christmas is a fascinating one, from the biblical account of Jesus’ birth, to the church’s moving of his birthdate so as to capitalize on the popularity of pagan holidays like Saturnalia and Yule, to the Puritans banning it as a feast of licentiousness, to the abundant, familial celebration we know today. Standiford touches upon all of this, and on how the immense popularity of “A Christmas Carol” changed the culture around the holiday, but screenwriter Susan Coyne (“Anne of Green Gables”) and director Bharat Nalluri (“Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day”) gloss right over it in a way that will leave most viewers befuddled by the film’s title.

While Dickens (played here by Dan Stevens) was a well-established writer by 1843, the author was in something of a slump before he decided to take a crack at writing a Christmas story. “Barnaby Rudge” and “Martin Chuzzlewit” were slow sellers, and his essays about his trip to America hadn’t flown off the shelves either; meanwhile, he and his family were grandly restoring a new house, and his constantly-in-debt father John (Jonathan Pryce) was one of many people in Dickens’ orbit with hands perpetually out.

Having decided fairly late in the year to write “A Christmas Carol,” Dickens had relatively few weeks to get the story written and published, so there’s certainly some suspense involved in the book’s creation. And as Coyne and Nalluri tell the story, each new character Dickens created followed him around, waiting for him to figure out how to finish his tale. The most notable of these fictional hangers-on is, of course, Ebenezer Scrooge, brought to life with such delightful biliousness by Christopher Plummer that “The Man Who Invented Christmas” should, if nothing else, exist as an audition reel for a straightforward adaptation with Plummer in the lead.

There are aspects of the film that work, from the very convincing period interiors to a terrific ensemble of British character actors, including Miriam Margolyes (as Dickens’ housekeeper), Simon Callow (as John Leech, whose memorable illustrations are an essential ingredient to “A Christmas Carol”) and Miles Jupp (hilarious as Dickens’ smarmy rival William Makepeace Thackeray). All this talent on hand serves to highlight the blandness of Stevens in the central role. A writer writing is, admittedly, a mostly thankless task in movies, but given how this particular book connects to Dickens’ bleak youth working in a factory while his father was sent off to debtor’s prison, this character offers plenty for an actor willing to dive in; Stevens — here, anyway — seems content to bob at the surface.

Cinematographer Ben Smithard (“Goodbye Christopher Robin”) commits the sin of many a made-for-TV adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” by making industrial London far too bright and shiny; it’s a little hard to swallow Dickens’ complaints about the “damn London fog” when there are Malibu levels of sunshine coming in through the window behind him. London itself gets short shrift, since it appears to be about three blocks wide, unlike in more sumptuous productions that take over all the studios at Pinewood or Shepperton to recreate the city in all its 19th century glory and grime.

Most frustratingly, “The Man Who Invented Christmas” is the sort of author biopic that reduces the artist to a stenographer. People around Dickens spout off zingers like “Are there no workhouses?” or “A poor excuse to pick a man’s pocket every 25th of December,” and it’s like the book writes itself. That book, nearly 175 years later, remains an essential element to the holiday; this movie about its creation will be forgotten by Boxing Day.

15 Great Christmas Movies You Can Stream on Netflix Right Now (Photos)

The only reason people love this time of year is because it's now appropriate to binge watch a whole bunch of Christmas movies. So instead of wasting your time browsing for the best holiday movies, TheWrap's got you covered with 18 of our favorites.

"While You Were Sleeping"

One of Sandra Bullock's earlier films, she plays a lonely woman working for the Chicago Transit Authority and has a crush on a regular commuter. On Christmas day, she saves him from a tragic accident and accompanies him to the hospital where a nurse mistakes her for his fiancee.

Buena Vista Pictures

"White Christmas"

We couldn't leave out this Christmas classic. This romantic-comedy-musical involves two singing acts joining together to save a former commanding officer's failing inn in Vermont.

Paramount Pictures

"Bojack Horseman Christmas Special"

Bojack, as you'd expect, is not exactly a Christmas kind of guy. But, as you'd also expect from watching a million Christmas movies, he's not gonna stay that way. But this is still "Bojack Horseman" through and through so don't expect the same kind of shamltz you get from most other Christmas-themed things

Disney

"November Rule"

While this isn't, on its, face, your typical Christmas Holiday movie, it does involve a guy who breaks up with his girlfriend because of his self-declared November rule -- which means that every November he has to break up with the woman he's with to avoid the lovey attachment of the holidays. I think you can guess what kind of holiday turn this plot is gonna take.

Capitol Love

"Mickey's Magical Christmas"

You can never go wrong with Mickey and Christmas especially when the movie features pretty much all of the Disney characters from Donald Duck to Aladdin's Jafar.

Disney

"Marry Me for Christmas"

Most people dread the holidays because they don't want to be asked about who they're dating, when they're getting married/pregnant, etc. In this movie, a woman gets one step ahead of the game when she enlists her employee to pretend to be her fiancee to make her family happy.

UP

"Santa Buddies"

One of the few things better than Beethoven trying to save Christmas: Air Bud's puppies trying to save Christmas.

Disney

"12 Dates of Christmas"

A woman keeps reliving Christmas Eve, including a date with a man named Miles, over and over again. How horrible.

"Snow Day"

Every kid's dream: not having school because of a snow day. In this movie, kids try to stop a snowplow from cleaning up the streets to keep their school snowed in. It's not actually a Christmas movie, but all the snow should get you in the holiday spirit.

Paramount Pictures

"The Nightmare Before Christmas"

What began as a poem written by the quirky, horror film mastermind, Tim Burton, evolved into a stop-motion animated musical fantasy that is as dark as the title suggests. What else would you call a tale of a skeleton from Halloween Town accidentally slipping into a portal to Christmas Town?

Touchstone

"Bad Santa"

Bill Bob Thornton is the naughtiest of Santas in this comedy crime film costarring Bernie Mac, Lauren Graham and the late John Ritter. Thornton plays a con man who poses as a department store Santa so has can rob it on Christmas Eve. It doesn’t quite go as he plans.

Dimension Films

"Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas"

Jim Carrey’s rubbery mug was made for the role of Dr. Seuss’ infamous green grump who finds happiness in the misery of others during the holidays. The Ron Howard-directed film won an Oscar for makeup and was nominated for its art direction and costume design.

Imagine

"The Santa Clause"

In the first of a trilogy of “The Santa Clause” films, Tim Allen plays an inattentive father who inadvertently kills Santa and magically transforms into him to take his place.

Walt Disney Pictures

"A Christmas Prince"

An undercover reporter (Rose McIver) looking for a scoop on a handsome, eligible prince (Ben Lamb) thrown into the setting of a magical Christmas Eve ball. Fifty-three Netflix subscribers loved it so much that they watched it every day for 18 days straight — or so Netflix boasted.

A playlist of holiday films you can unapologetically binge watch from “Bad Santa” to “The Nightmare Before Christmas”

The only reason people love this time of year is because it's now appropriate to binge watch a whole bunch of Christmas movies. So instead of wasting your time browsing for the best holiday movies, TheWrap's got you covered with 18 of our favorites.

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap's lead movie critic, has written about film for Movieline, Salon, MSNBC.com. He also co-hosts the Linoleum Knife podcast and regularly appears on What the Flick?! (The Young Turks Network). Senior Programmer for the Outfest Film Festival in Los Angeles and a pre-screener for the Sundance Film Festival, he is also a consultant for the USA Film Festival/Dallas, where he spent five years as artistic director. A former arts and entertainment editor at the Advocate, he was a regular contributor to "The Rotten Tomatoes Show" on Current. He is the author of two books: "Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas" (Limelight Editions) and "101 Must-See Movies for Gay Men" (Advocate Books).